Aktuala were a pioneering band from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, formed in 1972. The name comes from the

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...

for "contemporary". Their music has been categorised as world music,

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

, or

avant garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or 'vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical De ...

, or "sounding like that of the English group

Third Ear Band Third Ear Band were a British musical group formed in London during the mid-1960s. Their line-up initially consisted of violin, cello, oboe and percussion. Most of their performances were instrumental and partly improvised. Their records for th ...

". They formed in 1972 in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

by husband and wife team

Walter Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

and Laura Maioli who were collectors and performers of ancient and ethnic instruments. For a while the group lived together in a musical commune, "picking olives and playing music". They played unconventional venues including asylums and wharfs. They signed with the Bla Bla label and released their debut, self-titled album in 1973. Two members, Lino Vaccina and Walter Maioli, left soon afterwards to pursue a collaboration with

Trilok Gurtu Trilok Gurtu (born 30 October 1951) is an Indian percussionist and composer whose work has blended the music of India with jazz fusion and world music. He has worked with Terje Rypdal, Gary Moore, John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek, Joe Zawinul, M ...

. All three returned for their second album, ''La Terra'', which was released in 1974. Following this, the band moved to

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

to produce their third album, ''Tappeto Volante'', in 1976. Many of the band members went on to other music ventures. Maioli went on to the Futuro Antico project, Cavallanti to the band Muzik Circus, Gurtu to world music.

Members

Walter Maioli Walter Maioli (born 1950 in Milan) is an Italian researcher, paleorganologist, poly-instrumentalist and composer. Specialized in experimental archaeology and music, in particular that of archaic civilization. He has been researching the music o ...

: oboe, flute, harmonica, ethnic and self-designed and made "ancient" woodwind and percussion instruments, studio treatments 1973 - 1976 * Daniele Cavallanti: Saxes 1973 - 1976 * Antonio Cerantola: Guitar 1973 - 1976 * Laura Maioli: percussioni 1973 * Lino Vaccina: percussioni 1973 - 1974 * Otto Corrado: saxes, flute 1974 * Attilio Zanchi: guitar 1974 * Marjon Klok: harp 1974 - 1976 *

: percussion 1974 - 1976 * Kela Rangoni Macchiavelli: percussioni 1976 * Fabrizio Cassanoi: sitar 1976

Discography

* ''Aktuala'' LP (Bla Bla, 1973) * ''La Terra'' (''The Earth'') LP (Bla Bla, 1974) * ''Tappeto Volante'' (''Flying Carpet'') LP (Bla Bla, 1976)

External links

Walter Maioli's Aktuala pageSoundohm artist's page for AktualaProg Archives page for Aktuala
* * Aktuala profileon

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aktuala Italian progressive rock groups World_music_groups Musical groups from Milan